According to the book of Acts

•The crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ occurred in the spring of 32 AD.

•Day of Pentecost (Acts 2)

•Stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:59)

•In about 37 AD, Jesus Christ speaks to Saul (Paul) on the road to Damascus.
Paul is led blind to Damascus (Acts 9:8).
After the visit by Ananias, Paul preached in Damascus.

•The Jews plotted to kill St. Paul. Paul departed from Damascus at night, being let down from the
city wall in a basket (Acts 9:25 and 2 Corinthians 11:32). Paul goes to Jerusalem where he
started preaching after being introduced by Barnabas.
•Paul in Caesarea (after a plot against him was discovered) and Tarsus (Acts 9:30)

•Peter goes to house of Cornelius in Caesarea marking the reception of the word of God by the
Gentiles (Acts 10)

•Barnabus gets Paul and they stay in Antioch (Syria) for one year (Acts 11:25). This must be
between 41 AD (beginning of Claudius Caesar's reign) and 44 AD (Acts 11:28). Believers are
first called Christians at Antioch.

•James, brother of John, killed by Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:2).

•Herod Agrippa I dies in 44 AD (Acts 12:23).

 First Journey 45-47 AD

Second Journey 51-53 AD

Third Journey 54-58 AD

Imprisonment in Judea 58-60 AD

Voyage to Rome 60-61 AD

Imprisonment in Rome 61-63 AD

Post-Imprisonment Journeys 63-67 AD

•The first journey begins when Paul, Barnabus, and Mark set out from Antioch (Acts 13:4).
This journey started after 44 AD and ended a "long time" (Acts 14:28) before 50 AD

•They left Antioch for harbor town of Seleucia and sailed to Cyprus, large island 100 miles off
Syrian coast. There they went to Salamis (where Barnabas was originated) and Paphos where
Paul met Bar-Jesus the sorcerer. (Acts 13:4-6).

•Then they sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, which is now southern Turkey. From here, Mark returns
to Jerusalem.

•At Antioch in Pisidia (not to be confused with the one in Syria), Paul and Barnabas turn to the
Gentiles (Acts 13:46).
•Antioch was the chief church of the Gentile Christians where they are first time called
Christians.

•During the Roman centuries, It was the third largest populated city of the antiquity. Referred
as golden and beautiful Antioch, it was designed in the Hippodamic style, and was one of the
unique cities having the city lighting. After the martyrdom of Saint Stephen, many Jerusalem
Christians fled to Antioch. The first two journeys of Paul started and ended in there.
Acts 13:4-5

•Paul and Barnabas visited the city of Salamis on the eastern coast of Cyprus during the First
Missionary Journey. Salamis which rivalled Paphos on the western coast was a major
commercial harbour for principle exports of the island such as copper and timber. There was a
great Jewish community having more than one synagogue.

"when they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of Jews"
Acts 13:6-12

•Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel to mainly to Jews while they crossed the
island from east to west. Finally they arrived to Paphos. Paphos was the capital city
of Roman rule in Cyprus and the center of the worship for Aphrodite, goddess of
love and beauty. The city had evil reputation for laxity of morals.

•In Paphos Paul and Barnabas met Roman Proconsul, Sergius Paulos who wanted to
hear the word of God. A sorcerer called Elymas wanted to turn him away from his
faith. But Paul blinded him temporally. Witnessing to what happened to Elymas,
Sergius Paulos believed. From this point on Saul used this Roman name Paul.
In the book of Acts, Paul is called by his Hebrew name, Saul, until his
clash with the wizard Bar-Jesus on the island of Cyprus. As a Roman
citizen, he was probably called by both names, which was common for
Jews during this time. The change from the Hebrew, "Saul," to the
Greco-Roman, "Paul," was appropriate for his mission to the Gentiles.
Paul's upbringing as a Jewish Pharisee made him respected among the
Jews and his Roman citizenship, likewise, esteemed him among the
Gentiles.
•Located in the east of Antalya, Perge is certainly one of the
major archaeological sights of Turkey.

•Saint Paul visited Perge during his first missionary trip.

Paul, Barnabas and John Mark came to Perge after their
time in Cyprus. After arriving to Attalia harbour (the main
port of the region), they came to Perge (the most
important city of the Pamphilia region) either by boat or by
Roman road of ancient times.
•The site of Pisidian Antioch was discovered in 1833 by the British
Chaplain at Smyrna, Francis Arundel.

•Located in the ancient Pisidia Region of antiquity, Antioch played an

important role in the life of Paul and in the history of Christian Faith.
After visiting the synagogues and arguing with the Jews of Antioch,
Paul said his words which changed the course of the history: ' From
now on, we turn to Gentiles.'
With these words, Paul saves Christianity from the narrow window of
Jewish faith and opens the gates of Christian faith to the rest of the
world.
•Then it was on to Iconium, where they abode a "long time" (Acts 14:3), Lystra, where
Paul was stoned, but lives (Acts 14:19) and next day went to Derbe. Then they retraced
their steps back through Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch (in Pisidia) (Acts 14:21).

•Paul and Barnabas went throughout Pisidia, Pamphylia, then to Perga, Attalia, and
sailed back to Antioch in Syria (Acts 14:24-26). The first journey ends in Antioch,
Syria, where Paul and Barnabus stay there a long time (Acts 14:28).

•The dates for the events from 50-60 AD are found by counting backwards from the
succession of Felix's reign as Procurator in Judea by Porcius Festus in 60 AD. Should
one want to check these dates for accuracy, one should start at 60 AD and work
backwards.
•Arriving to Iconium Paul and Barnabas went to Synagogue
and had many Greek and Jewish Convents. After a certain
time, the people of Iconium were divided into two opposing
parties.

•When Apostles heard that people of Iconium were ready

to stone them and drive them away, they left the city.
•After Iconium, Paul and Barnabas came to Lystra and they met a
cripple who was healed by Paul. After this miracle, the people of Lystra
thought Paul and Barnabas were Jupiter and Mercury. They tried to
sacrifice animals for them. The saint objected and said that they were
only human beings. Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium having
persuaded the crowd, they stoned St. Paul to such an extent that they
even thought that Paul was dead. His body was carried to the outside
of city walls.
• “However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and
went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to
Derbe”

•Derbe was the only city where the apostles were not persecuted. They
stayed there longer than other cities. The apostles made a lot of
disciples and one of them was Gaius who accompanied Paul during his
last missionary journey
•In about 50 AD, Paul and Barnabus go to the council in Jerusalem 14
years after Paul's conversion (Galatians 2:1-9 and Acts 15:2). The
council discussed the issue of circumcision of the Gentiles.

•Judas and Silas return to Antioch (Syria) with Barnabus and Paul where
they continued some days (Acts 15:35-36), possibly in the winter of 50-
51 AD.
•St. Paul said to Barnabas “Let us go back and visit our brethren in every city where
we have preached the word of the Lord”.

•Paul and Barnabas travel to Antioch. At Antioch John Mark (who left them at Perga on
their first missionary journey) wishes to rejoin Paul/Barnabas. A disagreement ensues
between Paul and Barnabas about whether to allow Mark to come with them. The
argument is so heated that Paul finally decides to take Silas with him to Tarsus, Derbe,
Lystra, Iconium and Antioch in Pisidia. Barnabas takes John Mark and travels to the
island of Cypress (Cyprus).

•At Lystra Paul meets Timothy, who accompanies him on the rest of his journey.
Map of Mysia and Lydia
Map of Asia Minor and the adjacent
Mediterranean lands in Roman times. Asia
was a term which in the books of the
Maccabees actually means Asia Minor,
which Antioch III (the Great) had to give up
to the Roman province of Asia Proconsularis
(formed after 133 B.C.), which embraced
the regions of Mysia, Lydia, Caria, and
Phrygia (see Rom 16:5; II Tim 1:15; Acts
1:4).
•When they had gone through Phrygia in the Asian province of the Roman
Empire, they were prevented by the Holy Sprit from preaching the word there.

•After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not
permit them.

•So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas, a city in the south of Dardaneles, a
popular crossing point from Asia to Europa. When Paul arrived there, he had his
famous vision. In his dream, he had a man from Macedonia beseeching to come
over to Macedonia to help them.
•Paul and companions first went to island of Samothrace, then arrived to Neapolis
and Philippi (the foremost city of that part of Macedonia) where Paul met Lydia, a
rich women from the city of Thyatira. She and her household were baptized.

•In Philippi, Paul was disturbed by a slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination
who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. She was healed by Paul
and she and her family were baptized by Paul who was arrested and put into a prison
upon complains of the owners of the girl. The imprisonment ended up with the
Philippian jailer being saved.
•Paul's party continued their journey and they passed Amphipolis, Apollonia,
Thessalonica. In Thessalonica they were met with fierce resistance by the Jews who
carried an assault on the house of Jason who harbored them.

•Brethren sent Paul and Silas to Berea. However, the Jews from Thessalonica
followed them

•Therefore, the brethren sent Paul to Athens by sea while Silas and Timothy
remained there only to join him very shortly after. St. Paul had a bitter argument
with the philosophers of the city.
•Going further south Paul arrived the city of Corinth, one of the important cities of
southern Greece. The Lord appeared to him saying “Do not be afraid, but speak, and
do not keep silent; for I am with you and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I
have many people in this city”.

•After staying nearly 1 year, he traveled to Ephesus, the capital city of Asia. He was
accompanied by Aquila and Priscilla, close friends of Paul from Corinth. Paul first
went to Synagogues of Ephesus and spoke with the elders of the synagogues and
argued with them Christian doctrines. He didn't stay long time in Ephesus to keep
the feast (Passover) in Jerusalem. After promising he would return to Ephesus, he
left for the Holy lands.

After his journey from Ephesus, Paul landed in Caesarea on the coastline of
Palestine. Then he went up to Jerusalem and finally back to Antioch.
Principles we have learnt so far
 Expect difficulties
 Persevere “NO MATTER WHAT”
 Make sacrifices (ultimate sacrifice)
 Follow-up
 Be guided by the Holy Spirit
 All things work out for good.